


Memories are Secrets Untold

by silver_wolf1249



Category: One Piece
Genre: Extremely Strong characters, M/M, Marco x Ace, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Rebirth, Seeing the Memories of Another, Time Travel, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3790153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_wolf1249/pseuds/silver_wolf1249
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ace and Marco have been keeping secrets from their family, and Ace thinks it's time to spill. So when he, Marco, Whitebeard, and the other commanders go explore a deserted island, Ace knows that this might be his only shot. So he plans something that reveals more than just their secret, but also their memories. Marco and Ace didn't first meet on the Moby Dick, oh no, they met long before then. They met each other when one was sent back in time, and the other an illegitimate orphaned son of a Noble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/110440) by RoseDragonWitch. 



> Ok, this is a prologue to something I'm trying out. I'm new to writing fanfics, and I would love if you leave me comments on what you think about it, and if you want me to continue it. If more people say continue than not, I will update the story. Sorry for such a short prologue! Thanks!

It was time, Ace decided, to tell them the truth about him, about Marco too. But what were they going to say or react? The Whitebeard Pirates did just manage to save him, after all. Were they going to accept them for who they were, or would they be disgusted? Hard to tell with some of them, seeing that Squardo nearly killed Pops because he didn't tell him that Ace was Roger's son. But they were his family, and he decided after the war that he would tell them. Someone knocked his door and Ace pulled out random paperwork that were half-finished or not at all and started pretending to work on one. "Come in!" he shouted, hoping that whoever came in thought that he was working on his overdue paperwork.

"Hey, Ace," Thatch said, "We're getting close to an island. It's a new island and all the commanders and Pops get to go and explore first!"

“But I still have paperwork to do." whined Ace.

"Ehh, who cares? You can do it when we get back."

"Besides," Thatch said, with a knowing grin on his face, "You're only pretending that you were doing paperwork. You probably just woke up a little while ago from a nap. When you heard someone coming you grabbed some random papers and pretended to work."

Ace had the decency to put an embarrassed smile on his face. "You're right." he said,” Wait a sec so I can get ready."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right." Thatch said, "See you later!" he smiled smugly and turned around while shutting the door as he left.

Ace sighed deeply. He hated keeping things from his friends and family, especially since Thatch almost died after Blackbeard's attack. He was scared he might lose them again, and next time there may not be a second chance. Wait a second; Thatch did say they found a new island. Maybe he could move that “thing” and pretend that he found it on the island. No one would suspect he did it. First of all, though, was getting Marco's agreement to share their secret. He sent some of his mind out, probing for any sign of Marco. Finally he found him, getting ready to leave for the island. _“Hey Marco, “_ Ace said through his head, _“I think it's time to reveal our secret to them. I have the perfect way to show them too!"_

 _"You mean that "thing" don't you."_ he heard Marco reply dryly.

_"Yep, could you help me with the plan? We'll only show Pops and the commanders though, the rest don't have to know about it."_

_"If you're sure,"_ Marco said warily, _"I hope you know what you're doing."_

 _"I hope so too, Marco. “_ Ace smiled. He loved it when Marco worried about him, even though he didn't need to. And so they transported the "thing" onto the island and got ready for what might be the most nerve wracking day of their life.


	2. The Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The commanders and Whitebeard land on the island. Ace starts his plan. This is sort of Marco's POV, but not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it. Please comment and tell me what you think.

Marco was worried. Sure, the plan that Ace came up with was genius, but to show Ace’s memories to the others was worth worrying about. He knew he shouldn’t be worried; Pops and the commanders were the closest Marco had to a real family in years. Still, Marco worried. He hadn’t told anyone who he really was in ages. The last person he told was Roger, and only because Roger somehow recognized him as his old captain. That was one very long and awkward story, one to be thought about another time.

He, Ace, Thatch, and Izou were all in the same boat. Ace and Thatch were rowing, Ace as punishment for trying to steal from the kitchen again, and Thatch for rehabilitation. Besides, Izou would never row, it was a “menial job” to Izou, and he was afraid he would get his new kimono dirty if he sweated. Ace was complaining about having to row, and wishing he had Striker. His boat had been destroyed by Blackbeard’s crew when he got captured. Good thing that the Whitebeard Pirates managed to get to Marineford on time to rescue Ace with the help of their allies. Straw Hat Luffy or Ace’s other brother didn’t come; they knew that their brother could hold his own, and if he couldn’t his crew would.

A smile played across Marco’s lips as he watched Ace mutter and complain about how his punishment wasn’t fair and so on and so forth. None of the other commanders or even Pops for that matter had even found a clue that he and Ace were a couple. Then again, being the first and second commanders, they shared a room. And whenever they got too “serious”, they always put silencing spells around their room.

Marco was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt the boat touch ground. “Let’s explore!” Thatch exclaimed, jumping out of the boat and onto the land.

He was overly-excited for finally being on land, Marco supposed. By doctor’s orders, Thatch wasn’t allowed to leave the ship due to his literal backstabbing by Teach. Seemed like a smart idea at the time, Marco mused. Obviously, being Thatch, of course it wasn’t a good idea. Thatch ended up with so much pent up energy that he decided to put that energy into pranks. There wasn’t one day after a week he was told to stay on the ship that he wasn’t pranking at least one member of the crew if not an entire division or even the entire crew. Marco swore that if Thatch ever put all of his small stuff into jello or nailed all of his things to the ceiling again, he would kill him. At least his entire division was only pranked once, when Thatch wanted to make fun of Marco’s hair, and made everything that he and his division owned smell like pineapples. Marco was so temped to give Thatch a black eye before turning around and saw Rin, one of the doctors, giving him the coldest stare that said “don’t even think about it”. Fortunately, Marco was not suicidal, and decided to leave Thatch alone.

Back to the present, Marco thought, it’s not good to dwell on the past. Marco got out of the boat, before following the others into the jungle of the island. He walked until he caught up with Ace and Thatch, who were talking about pranks they’ve done, and joking around. He came close to Ace’s hand, grabbed it and squeezed it for some needed comfort before letting go quickly. He wasn’t going to give any hints at all that they were dating, at least not until the others had seen it for themselves when watching Ace’s memories. Oh god, Marco thought while blushing slightly, they weren’t going to see that were they? That would be so embarrassing!

He tried not to think about it and instead listened to the other commanders. Izou was squealing about this new outfit he had bought, and Haruta was discussing some information or whatnot she’d found with Namur, Jozu and Vista. Kingdew, Blenheim, Fossa, and Rakuyo were talking about something that seemed like weapons. The other commanders were also gossiping, but they were too far back for Marco to hear them. He looked around a bit; they were getting closer to the “thing” that he and Ace had transported. He discreetly motioned to Ace with his hand. Ace noticed and nodded ever so slightly that you had to know what you were looking for to see it. “Hey guys!” Ace yelled, “I’m going to go ahead, bye!”

He ran off into the jungle while Thatch cried out “Wait!” before starting to run after him.

He stopped after a while, heavily leaning on a tree with a sheen of sweat shining on his face. “That guy is going to be the death of me.” Thatch panted.

“We should probably go after him before he gets into trouble.” Marco said, faking a sigh.

“Trouble?” Haruta asked, “What trouble could Ace get into on a deserted island?”

“Don’t even get me started on that,” Marco replied dryly, “does anyone remember the dragon incident?”

The commanders visibly stiffened and some even turned paler, especially Izou, who looked like he was turning almost blue. Even Pops turned slightly pale. “Oh god,” Vista said after an awkward silence, “Worst week of my life. Haruta, you were on a mission at the time, so you don’t know what happened. I’d like to keep it that way.”  
“Ok then?” Haruta said, probably wondering what a dragon had to do with anything, and why Ace was involved.

“Good.” Vista said, looking scared for his life.

Marco was inwardly laughing; he had loved the thing, then again, he _was_ a phoenix. He couldn’t get burned by the dragon’s flame, and his stuff was fire proof due to Ace’s…tendencies to catch fire when he had too much of certain emotions. The commanders and Pops relaxed and some color came back to their faces. However, he could have sworn Izou was still shivering a bit. “Hey guys!” Ace shouted, “I found this really cool looking rock tablet thing! Come and see!”

And now the plan has begun, thought Marco. He couldn’t stop it now even if he tried. Ace had finished the first step, now it was his turn. “Come on guys,” Marco said, “let’s go see this rock of his.”

He went in the direction of Ace’s voice, with Pops and the others just behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if I need to edit anything, I would love to hear your opinion on this. That and I'm planning to make a 7 chapter fanfic about the "dragon incident". If you have any suggestions, please comment about it.


	3. The First Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They show a memory of Rouge, before Ace was born. There is also an unknown man there, wonder who he is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about posting this late. I already had this all typed up, but I forgot to post it. When I finally realized that I didn't post it, at least two weeks passed already. Hope you like it, and please comment.

Marco and the others arrived to where Ace stood, in front of a giant stone. It was placed in an empty clearing, surrounded by trees and shrubs. It had strange markings on it, runes in a language not even the most knowledgeable could read. It had carvings of clouds, people, and mythical creatures circling the runes. Ace was in front of one side of it, staring at it. His face was oddly serious, but when he noticed them he quickly turned on his usual happy-go-lucky expression. “Hey guys,” he said, “told you it was a cool rock didn’t I?”

The others surrounded it, trying to get a good look at it. “Anyone know what it is?” Ace asked, already knowing no one would know.

He also didn’t fail to see Marco’s expression, stormy as a hurricane, with a scowl threatening to break out. It’ll be fine, he mind-spoke to Marco, and saw Marco sigh and nod at him. “No,” Thatch said, “what do you think it is or does?”

Ace faked a shrug, and lifted his hand. He knew what it did. Once you touched it, it asked you if you wanted to show your memories, once you’ve agreed, it projected those memories to all of the people within a certain radius, hence the empty island. While the stone showed Ace’s memories, Ace would be put into a deep sleep and only the completion of the memories would wake him up. Time would be stopped until the memories were done, so that their crew wouldn’t get suspicious and the commanders and Pops wouldn’t get hungry or thirsty during the memories. “I’m gonna touch it.” Ace stated, slowly putting his raised hand onto the stone.

“Wait!” Thatch cried out, “You don’t know what that’ll do to you!” 

But he was too late, Ace touched the stone tablet, and everything turned black. Ace felt his world spin in every way possible before collapsing onto the ground. He smiled, knowing that when he woke up again, his family would know Marco and him for their true selves. They wouldn’t be hiding anymore secrets from them, well, other than some minor ones, like that one time where… and Ace drifted into sleep. “Hello!” Izou cried out, “Is everyone there?”

Yeses resounded in the blackness. “Where’s Ace?” asked Kingdew, trying to look around as if he could actually see in all of the darkness.

“I don’t know.” replied Namur, also looking around in the blackness.

Then their world suddenly brightened, but it was unfamiliar with the island they were just previously on. Some looked down, and gasped. All of the Devil fruit users looked down and turned slightly green, for underneath their feet was water, more specifically, ocean water. They were all quite happy when they realized that they weren’t falling into the sea. No one noticed that only Marco, who was a Devil fruit user, did not seem scared by the fact that they could have been dumped into the ocean. Slowly, because he was still afraid that they might drop into the ocean, Jozu looked up in front of them and said “Hey guys, look. There’s a woman over there, maybe she’ll know what’s going on.”

The woman was slim, with a slight bump on her stomach. She wore a light blue dress and was a bit darkened by the sunset in front of her. She was standing on a cliff facing the ocean, with a very serious face on, a bit strange with her childish freckles on her face. Her long, wavy blond hair reached her waist and she had a red, tropical flower in her hair. Her brown eyes glittered dangerously, and all of the commanders, even Whitebeard for that matter, understood that they never wanted to cross her path. Haruta stepped forward, feeling a bit strange walking on solid air, and went to tap her shoulder. She gasped in surprised when her hand passed straight through the woman’s shoulder. The woman didn’t even notice, and her eyes straight through them. Then the woman started speaking, “Just wait a bit longer,” she said, sounding a bit pained, “just a bit longer.”

She turned around and left, with a grim look on her face. “What was she talking about?” Vista asked, looking very confused.

“Who knows, yoi?” Marco said, sounding very tense, “but something tells me that if we follow her we’ll find out.”

All of the commanders agreed, and they started to tail the woman. They noticed that when looking around, the island was a summer island, usually happy and lively. But now, the island was filled with marines, and all of the villagers looked scared for their lives. Then they passed by one house, and saw a soldier take a baby from a woman, presumably the baby’s mother. “Stop!” she screamed, desperately trying to grab the baby back, “He’s not his son, his father’s a carpenter!”

“’I’m sorry,” said the marine, sounding extremely sad and tired, “but we know that his child will be born here, and this is our orders. I am truly sorry for your loss.”

The woman screamed and cried as her child was taken, but she was held back by other marines as the marine with her child slowly walked away, pain etched into his face. “And they say marines are for the people” Thatch muttered, before wincing and turning to follow the mysterious woman again. 

The woman entered a small cottage, and the commanders and Whitebeard followed suit. She sat down in a rocking chair, grabbing a book with a bookmark stuck in the pages. She started to read, rocking back and forth in her chair. She looked totally normal until Izou stepped a bit closer and noticed something. “Pops,” he whispered, “she’s crying.” 

And what he said was true. Tears were slowly streaming down her face, and she wasn’t truly reading the novel. All of the commanders and Whitebeard felt bad for her, and wished to help her, and guessed she was also pregnant. It would explain her strange words at the cliff, and what caused her crying by the scene with that poor lady whose son was taken away. Then someone started knocking on the door. The woman looked up, panic and fear shone in her eyes. But then she composed herself, and determination replaced her previous emotions. The pirates had to give her credit on her will; in fact, she reminded them of a certain fire-user. Then the woman stood up slowly, careful not to make a sound as she crossed the room to a cabinet, opening a secret compartment and pulled out a pistol. She tucked it in a secret pocket in her dress before turning around and yelled “Who is it?” 

She walked to the door, putting one hand near the gun, and the other to the doorknob. She threw open the door and saw a young boy with a letter in his hand. She visibly relaxed and opened the door wider. “Come in.” she said, smiling at the boy.

“It’s fine,” the boy said, “I’m just here to deliver this letter to you.”

“Who gave it to you?” she asked, warily looking at the letter before taking it.

“Dunno,” the boy shrugged, “I just know he had black hair, blue eyes, and he looked harmless, so I decided to help him out when he said if I could deliver that to a woman named Portgas D. Rouge.”

The woman, now known as Rouge, smiled at the boy and said “Thank you, you can go now.”

“You’re welcome!” the boy smiled, revealing his teeth, which had a gap in the front.

He turned around and ran away, leaving the commanders and Whitebeard shocked. “She’s Ace’s mom?” Blenheim asked, looking bewildered.

“It does make sense when you look at her closely,” Curiel stated “different hair and eyes, but same freckles, characteristics, and intelligence.”

All of them had to agree on the last part, Roger, though a great pirate was in short, an idiot. Ace on the other hand was very smart, though he was almost as reckless as his father. Then they turned to see Rouge reading the letter she was given. Her lips were pursed as she stared at the letter, before it turned into a relived smile as she said “Good, this is good. You’ll be safe when I’m gone. And I don’t mean that Garp that Roger told me about.”

“So it was Roger that told Garp to take care of his son.” Jiru said, “Why though? The guy’s batshit insane!”

“She already knew she was going to die, yoi.” Marco said, his face looking sad, “Maybe the letter was from someone who said they were going to protect her son. Besides, Garp’s a marine. Who would look for a pirate’s child in the hands of a marine, yoi?”

“True." Jiru mused, “and Pops, is what Marco said true? That Rouge died?”

“Yes, I believe so, son.” Whitebeard said, looking tired, “Poor Rouge, she died almost right after birth.”

The mood in the room turned sullen, until Thatch said “Well, although Roger as stupid as a bag of rocks, he had good taste in women!”

Izou turned around and whacked Thatch on the head. “Ow!” he exclaimed.

“You deserved it.” The others said monotonely.

Honestly, how come Thatch could see who was interested in who is a few seconds (except Marco and Ace’s relationship of course), but he couldn’t even realize that Izou had a major crush on him. It could be very awkward sometimes when Thatch tried chasing other women. That was when Izou got dangerous. 

Then their surroundings started turning dark again, and the commanders hoped that was the end of the… well, whatever it was that they were going through. But nope, no can do apparently, because a new scene appeared. This time they were still on the same island, but they were outside again, in a grove of fruit trees. There was a man underneath one of them, smiling into a transponder snail. He was wearing a closed white jacket, strange because it looked really hot outside, though no one watching could feel it. He wore blue shorts that reached just below his knees, and he wore a yellow sash similar to the one around one phoenix’s waist. His hair was black, and his eyes as blue as the sea, though a shade lighter than the sea. “Hey” he said, “How are you? I haven’t seen you since, well, you know.”

“I’ve been better,” the snail responded, “but I'm doing just fine now. How are you Ciel? Or shall I call you by Lucas? Or your name now for that matter?”

The man shrugged as the commanders and Whitebeard were wondering who was this man, why were they watching him, and why he had so many names. They were so focused that they didn’t realize Marco tense up and stare at the man. “Is that so?” Ciel asked, as they decided to call him, “I’m on Batterilla right now, and I’ve sent the letter.”

“Good, “the other man replied, “I know you’ll protect Roger’s child. Also, are you in disguise right now? And I mean do you look any different than the disguise you are currently wearing.”

“Yeah,” Ciel replied, “I’m no longer you know who. Wouldn’t want Marines chasing me.”

What is he talking about? Everyone wondered. “Aw,” the snail said, “but weren’t you in the Marines at one point?”

“Don’t remind me,” Ciel groaned, “worse couple of years in my life. Pirating and exploring is so much more interesting.”

“Yeah, but I still can’t believe you managed to get a plaque at Marineford that said you were the most behaved yet most rebellious and most liked Marine ever.” The man on the other side joked.

Ciel groaned again, “Not surprised, really, hated it there, but I wanted to see what it was like, so obviously I had to pretend to be loyal, though my morals stopped me from doing some of that.”

On the other side of the snail, laughing was heard. “Well, it was nice to talk, and how is your search for _him_?” you could just imagine the man on the other side waggling his eyebrows.

Ciel blushed and replied “None of your business.” Before he hung up and looked up and staring at the sea, only a little bit away from the orchard they were in.

“Don’t worry, Izumi, or shall I say Ace,” Ciel said, “I’m keeping my promise so far, so hurry up and keep yours.”

The scene darkened once again as everyone (except Marco of course) wondered what Ciel was talking about, and how he knew Ace before Ace was even born. Also, how did this guy have so many names? What was the backstory to this guy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess who Ciel is? Ps, he's not Ciel Phantomhive or anything from Kuroshitsuji. I'll tell you how many are right or wrong in the next chapter.


	4. The Interim(Seriously, it's Nothing Much)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's exactly what the title says, basically the reactions of the crew to the episodes that shows Luffy's childhood. I didn't put any real effort into it since you already know what happens. I swear the next one will be better, along with some serious plot twists, heheheheheh *grins like a madman*.

The world turned black again, and it left the commanders a bit befuzzled, Thatch especially. “What exactly is going on? Are we watching Ace’s life or something? Actually,where’d he go?”  
“Who knows?” Kingdew replied, looking grim, “Let’s just get this over with and maybe at the end Ace will be returned to us.”  
The question _What if he doesn’t return_ was not mentioned by anyone, but everyone thought it. Thatch looked like he was about to say more, but the world brightened once again, and they found themselves inside Rouge’s house again. It was dark inside, and they weren’t really sure if it was day or night, as the curtains were shut. They watched silently as they saw Rogue slowly rocking a baby Ace in her arms. The door was violently thrown open, and the commanders were worried that the marines had come to take Ace away. Instead, to their relief (though not really), it was Garp, who peered into the room, lantern hanging from his right hand. The commanders and Whitebeard watched as Garp brought him to Dandan’s place, insulting the crazy marine because even if he couldn’t take care of Roger’s kid, he shouldn’t just have dumped him to bandits! How crazy was this guy? Ace would never have been a marine anyway, but making mountain bandits take care of him wasn’t going to help anything! 

They watched as Ace grew up, becoming a world-hardened kid even at just five years old. The commanders were sad to see Ace so lonely and angry at the world. Haruta was near tears and Thatch was shouting that just because Ace was Roger’s son doesn’t mean anything, as if he could hear them. Marco stood almost ramrod straight, head lifted up to the sky, hands clenched by his side. The other commanders looked at their feet, feeling guilty and upset that they couldn’t be there for him as Whitebeard gazed sadly at the young Ace as he was yelled at the people from the bar about his father, the people who said that Roger’s son deserved to die, to be stuffed with pins as revenge. Everyone were glad to see Ace befriend Sabo, a boy he had met in the giant dump known as the Grey Terminal. They laughed at their antics and cheered them on, especially when they stole from the stuffy, uptight nobles. When the grandson of Garp, Luffy, entered the picture, they admired his determination and tenacity. They all mentally berated Ace for treating Luffy so badly(I mean, literally leaving him to the wolves is a _bit_ overboard). They watched in fear as Luffy got taken away and Ace and Sabo decided to go and save him. They cheered them on as they defeated Bluejam’s crew and ran away. 

The Whitebeard Pirates watched on with joy in their hearts as they saw the three boys become brothers, fighting together and living together. They were all horribly upset when they saw Sabo’s parents taking him away. When they saw Grey Terminal being burned down with Ace and Luffy still inside they were terrified even though they knew both survived and were happily wreaking havoc in the world. They worried when Ace and Dandan were faced with Bluejam and his crew, but gasped in awe when they saw him reveal his Emperor’s Haki, even though he most likely didn’t know such a thing existed at the time. They cried softly when they heard that Sabo had died, seeing Luffy cry and Ace berating himself. They soon stopped and whooped with joy when Sabo came back not half a year later, with burn marks on his face, but otherwise completely fine. The world turned black again after Sabo came back, and the pirates anxiously awaited the next scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter, probably doesn't meet up to standards. I swear the next one will be better, along with some serious plot twists, heheheheheh *grins like a madman*. All feedback accepted :)!


	5. The Rebirth of the Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, stuff happens, basically what the title says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been a really long time since I've updated this, I hope people are still interested! Finally a longer chapter! I hope you enjoy and don't hate me too much, also, I really suck at gore and injuries and fighting, if anyone's willing to offer advise I'd love it! :)

“So.” Thatch said awkwardly as he turned to face his family, “I guess this wasn’t really what we expected, huh?”

 

Everyone just looked at him, “No waaay, Thatch,” Haruta began sarcastically, as Izou finished for her, “We were definitely just waaaiiiting to see Ace’s life the moment he touched the stupid rock.”

 

Thatch blushed, “I was just trying to clear up the mood!” he insisted, turning away and sulking.

 

“But, jokes aside, that really was surprising.” Vista commented, stroking one end of his luxurious mustache.

 

“It was, wasn’t it?” Jozu wondered aloud, “I almost forgot how different Ace used to be before he joined us. He was cold and always angry at everything, kind of like what we just saw.”

 

“Do you guys even know why we’re seeing his memories?” Rakuyo piped up from the background, voice becoming more and more freaked out by each word that passed through his lips, “And where did Ace go anyway? He disappeared after everything went black. Speaking of, how long have we been in here? How does time pass in here? What is the rest of the crew gonna think when we don’t come back on time?”

 

Everyone grew silent at those words. Indeed, what exactly were they doing talking about Ace’s memory when they couldn’t even find him, not to mention that they have been watching the memories for some time now, what would the crew do? “Don’t worry,” Marco said, voice practically booming in the silence, “I’m sure it’ll all go well.” 

 

The commanders looked at him with skepticism, but Pops instead looked at his eldest, observing him for a few moments before he laughed out loud, stating “If Marco thinks that it’ll be fine, than it will be. He’s the eldest, remember? Listen to your older brother.”

 

The commanders mumbled their agreements, and Marco frowned, but only minutely, so that no one else would see it.  _ He suspects that this, me, and Ace are connected, but he doesn’t mind? Interesting… _

 

Then their surroundings brightened again and they found themselves in a forest, with birds chirping and sunlight peeking through the canopy. They wondered why they were there before they heard screams of fear coming from their right. “What was that?” Haruta exclaimed, her face turning slightly pale.

 

“I don’t know,” Pops replied, looking concerned, “but we should probably go check it out.” 

 

They ran to where they heard the screaming and stopped in shock. It was Ace, Luffy, and Sabo, not much older than when they last saw them, but that wasn’t why they were shocked. The boys were being chased by some  _ thing _ , some monster that you would only dream of in nightmares. The boys were running with fear in their eyes, screaming for help, but help was unlikely, there was no one else close enough to hear them. The pirates shouted in vain, encouraging the boys to keep running, but it was already too late.

 

With one jab of the creature’s claws, Ace was speared through the chest as he tried to save Luffy, his blood spattering on Luffy’s face, his eyes pleading the younger to run. The monster waved his paw about, finally dislodging Ace’s body and throwing him to the side, and he turned back to the remaining two boys. Next was Sabo, who was smacked into a large tree, neck bending at the wrong angle and chest caving in, blood pouring out of his mouth. Last was Luffy, poor Luffy who had just witnessed the death of his two older brothers. He was in shock, eyes wide open in horror. He had only just started to turn away to start running again when the monster scratched his back, knocking him down. Then the monster ruthlessly smashed his paw into him, pushing Luffy’s now mangled body deeper into the ground. The pirates could only stare, horrified at this turn of events. “I-I thought,” Fossa stuttered out, face pale, “I thought Ace was alive? If-if what we’re seeing is true, then how the hell is Ace and Luffy still alive?”

 

“I-I don’t know.” Izou sputtered out, “This, what, oh my god, what in the world is going on?”

 

While the captains were in shock and freaking out, Marco merely closed his eyes and sighed resignedly. He had heard of what happened to Ace before he met him, but seeing was very different than hearing. It was...horrifying, really, to know that Ace could have been lost to him had  _ they _ not been there. “Who are those people?” Thatch asked hesitantly, the only one who had snapped back quickly enough to pay attention to what was happening (or at least had been looking at the sky so as to not look at the three small bodies lying on the ground), and saw four people land on the ground next to the dead children. 

 

The pirates watched on silently as the four fought the monster, and all four of them seeming to be  devil fruit users, though they seemed much stronger than normal devil fruits users. There were two men and two women. One of the men was short and wizened, with a white and flowing beard that fell to his waist. He wore a kimono that was as black as the deepest parts of the ocean, with silver dragons on them. He had a pair of black, dragon-like wings and slitted green eyes. He was using fire against the beast, but the captains could tell that it wasn’t normal fire, it was  _ bright green _ after all. The other man looked like he was made of wind, and you could barely make out where he was if not for all the dust and leaves he was raising up with his wind. He was using air as his choice of weapon, shaping invisible bullets, knives, and others to throw at or attack the monster. 

 

However, the two women were probably the most interesting. Both were extremely beautiful in their own ways, and one of them was dressed in an elaborate kimono, fiery red and orange with yellow flowers and butterflies. She had a pair of wings on her back that seemed to be made of fire itself, flickering as she maneuvered herself around the monster, with long scarlet hair that touched her waist and eyes that looked like orbs of purple flames. The other female looked like a stereotypical angel, with long blonde hair, shining blue eyes, and large, feathery white wings on her back. The scarlet-haired women also used flames like the old man, but they seemed to do different things depending on the color of fire. The angel-like woman used light and ice to attack, scarily reminding some of the commanders of the Admirals Aokiji and Kizaru. “I thought devil fruits only had one of each type, and that if you ate two fruits you would die.” Thatch whispered in awe, “How is it that she can be this powerful?”

 

None of his brothers or sisters could answer him, and Marco secretly smiled. ‘ _ Of course she could be that powerful.’,  _ Marco mused, ‘ _ After all, none of them are human, and it’s not as simple as the Fishmen like Namur and Jinbei.’ _

 

The pirates watched on as the four strangers made quick work of the monster, finishing it off within minutes. The Whitebeards slowly grew angry, and much more confused. Why couldn’t have the people arrived there earlier? They could have helped the kids if they had only gotten there a bit sooner! And besides that, how was Ace and Luffy (and probably Sabo) still alive when they saw that they were clearly dead?

 

When the fight was over and the beast dead, the four looked at each other. “This could’ve gone better.” the wind man said, glancing down mournfully at the fallen children.

 

“What has happened has happened, and we cannot change their past.” the other man said roughly, his voice tired and sad.

 

The angel-like woman chewed at her bottom lip. “Maybe there was no helping their death, but it was our fault that they were killed. We were the ones who brought the demon here, after all. Even though there weren’t supposed to be any people here, we should have expected it just in case. While we can’t exactly make them alive again, there is one more way to make things right.”

 

“”You can’t be thinking of…” the old man gasped out in shock, “You know that that method is banned, and for good reason! We’ll have to give up some of our powers to these kids and share our life lines with them, not to mention that we have the responsibility to teach them their new powers. They won’t be able to live normal lives anymore and they’ll have to go through those  _ trials _ before they will be able to live their lives with even a semblance of normality. Are you sure you’re willing to do this?”

 

He looked at each and every one of the people in the clearing, the ones still alive that is. They all looked at each other in doubt and more than a little reluctance, all except for the angel-like woman. “You know, I’ve seen them before, in the Hall of the Seraphim.”

 

This caught all of their attentions, and the pirates felt that this Hall of Seraphims was very important. “Are you sure?” the wind man questioned, and the pirates were sure that if they could see his mouth it’d be frowning.

 

“Positive.” the angel-like woman responded, “Gol D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy, and Outlook D. Sabo. All were very promising, even though they all had their trials and their hardships, they managed to create very big names for themselves. As all with the Inheritors of the “D”, the three all became incredibly powerful and influential in the niche they created for themselves in this world. Their lives would have affected thousands if not millions, and the fact that they are dead so early will completely change the world. So unless you want the world’s fate and order to make a drastic change, you are going to help me revive these boys!”

 

“Fine, fine,” the woman in the red kimono replied placatingly, raising her hands in defeat, “so who is going to revive who?”

 

The angel-like woman pursed her lips in thought, “How about Ryuji-san and Seika-san revive this boy over here.” she suggested, pointing to Ace’s prone body, “He has been dead the longest, and would most likely require both of your strengths to come back. Then Fujin-san can revive the boy over there,” as she pointed to Sabo’s body, “and I’ll revive the youngest. Is that fair?” 

The group of people mulled it over while looking at the dead boys, before nodding their heads and agreeing to the woman’s suggestion. They walked over to the child they were assigned to and raised their hands. They started chanting in a language the pirates couldn’t understand, but they could practically feel the power radiating off of the strangers. They emitted golden strings that attached to the boys and before their eyes, the boy’s wounds started to close. Color returned to their rapidly paling cheeks and sparks of life returns to their eyes. The pirates sighed in relief as they saw the boys’ eyes open in shock, surprised that they were still alive. The gold strings emitted from the strangers never let go of the boys, only becoming transparent to the human eye. The boys slowly got up from their positions on the ground, looking at each other in shock before spotting the group of people around them. “Wh-who are you guys? What was that thing chasing us? Why are we still alive? What did you people do to us? What are you going to do with us?” Ace rapidly questioned them, suspicion lurking in his eyes. 

 

The people looked at each other, as if questioning who should speak, before the man the pirates now knew as Ryuji stepped up to answer the boy’s questions. “We are part of a division of divine beings that are sent out on missions. I am Ryuji, the other man is Fujin. The woman in the orange and red kimono is Seika and the woman in white is Mitsuko. That  _ thing _ that was chasing you was a demon, though we ourselves are unsure of its classification, as it was most likely a hybrid of some sorts. You are still alive because we shared our life with you through a forbidden technique. It would share a portion of our powers with you, and our lives would be connected with yours until one of us die. While highly unlikely, if we were to perish, then you will as well, however if you were to perish, we would not be affected. Usually a person only has to have one divine being to revive them, like your brothers. However, you were a special case. Since you were dead for a much longer period than your brothers, you needed an extra person to revive you. Thankfully for you, both Seika-san and I were both here, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to revive you.” 

 

Ryuji seems to notice their confused faces and explains, “You see, both me and Seika-san are beings of fire, and therefore are compatible enough to revive you. If Seika-san was instead a water nymph, she’d have to collaborate with Mitsuko-san instead as their abilities would be more compatible with each other and so would work better together to revive you safely. As for what we’re going to do with you...we have no choice but to teach you. You see, as I mentioned before, we have shared our powers with you. You know of Devil Fruits, yes? Well, the concept is not so different from that. You will gain new abilities, and you will need to learn to control them, or be killed again for resisting. After training, you will be given trials to pass before you can go out into the world, you especially, Ace.” the man explained, face calm as he watched the boys in front of him drop their jaws in shock.

 

“What?” Sabo  asked, eyes widening in surprise. 

 

“Do you have any questions, boya?” the one known as Seika, asked, tilting her head as she did so.

 

“Umm, would you believe us if we said no?” Sabo asked, clearly bewildered.

 

The four chuckled, “No, not really,” Fujin replied wryly, “we understand it must be a bit of a bewilderment. But at the end of your trial, if you pass, you will manage to live relatively normal lives, or at least as normal as it gets for Inheritor of the “D”. Do you understand?”

 

After a bit of string, the boys nodded their heads, “Good.” Ryuji replied, before adding in almost as an afterthought, “Also, none of you are allowed to say what transpired here. You three could be in incredible danger if anyone finds out what happened here. Where do you three live? One of us will take you back, and we will meet you in the forest everyday in the morning to start training.”

 

“We live in the forest sir,” Sabo replied hesitatingly, uncharacteristically polite, “technically we’re being raised by mountain bandits, though we mostly keep to ourselves. Sometimes Gramps will come visit and give us training sessions, but that’s pretty rare nowadays. We live in a tree house not far away from here.”

 

The four being looked at them a bit strangely before deciding to ignore the irregularity of their new pupils. “Then show me to your tree house and we will meet you at the bottom tomorrow morning, alright?” Mitsuko said gently, smiling at the three boys.

 

The boys nodded and the other three divine beings disappeared in a flash. The memory started to fade as Luffy takes Mitsuko’s hand and excitedly pulls her towards their tree house. The pirates stare in shock at where they had just seen Ace and his brothers  _ die _ then somehow come back to life by those divine beings or whatnot. “You know, you’d think we wouldn’t be surprised by stuff like this after sailing in the New World, but this is just unbelievable.” Jiru remarked and the other commanders nodded in agreement. 

 

“Do you think this really happened though?” Jozu asked, “For all we know this could be a weird joint hallucination caused by the stone.”

 

“”I don’t think so.” Rakuyo mused, “A hallucination wouldn’t seem like this, we’re just bystanders. Anyways, we can just ask Ace after this is over to tell us if it actually happened or not. I wonder what special abilities he and his brothers gained from those people.”

 

“I guess we’ll find out.” Vista stated softly as another memory appeared before them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and you can't really hate me because the ASL brothers are all alive and stronger than ever(and going to be so OP in the next chapter :P) Please comment below to tell me what you think! :)


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